


Rockabye Baby, Rockabye

by eternal_optimist



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, F/M, Family Fluff, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Parent Tony Stark, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-02
Updated: 2019-08-02
Packaged: 2020-07-29 15:23:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20084431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eternal_optimist/pseuds/eternal_optimist
Summary: Five moments from Tony and Morgan Stark's life, and then one more but not really.





	Rockabye Baby, Rockabye

**Author's Note:**

> So this was written as an antidote to the pain that endgame caused me but who am I kidding, the wound shall never be healed. All I can do now is write lots of fluffy fic, I guess.
> 
> (Which I don't think worked, because this fic hurt me deeply. In a good way. Maybe)
> 
> Enjoy!

_I._

The hospital halls were silent.

At least he thought they were.

He probably wasn't the best sounding board on his surroundings at the moment though, not when his eyes kept glancing at the entrance to the c-section ward every second, hoping that this time a baby cry would be heard or a nurse would come out with good news or maybe even Pepper coming out still pregnant with an exasperated sigh and “your daughter is the moodiest baby ever” because it's been hours and he was _this_ close to losing his goddamn mind.

The tapping of his leg increased.

Besides him, Happy groaned, “Tony, sit _still_.”

He flipped him the finger under the judgemental eyes of a passerby.

“It will be alright, buddy. She's probably just taking her time.”

That was the wrong thing to say to comfort him; all he could think of was that his daughter was stuck, that she was in a wrong position, that maybe oxygen wasn't reaching her.

He should have been in the goddamn room.  
  
The staff wouldn't let him in though, no matter how much he'd coaxed. Not when Pepper had told him that it really was better if he wasn't in the delivery room.

He'd mock pouted and she'd kissed his cheeks and told him that chance was he'd drive the staff crazy rather than actually help.

But if they couldn't handle working under pressure then were they really fit to help bring his daughter to life?

The answer was no, but Pepper hadn't been convinced of his argument.

He stood up and started walking back and forth, glaring at the delivery room's door now.

God, he just wanted to make sure they were all right, that they were going to make it out of this. Then the last few hours - the last few weeks, months, years - the worrying and the bone-deep fear, it would all be worth it.

“If you start making a scene, I'm going to get you out of here,” Happy told him. “I have orders from Pepper.”

At that he stopped to shoot him the flattest glare he could muster in his current frazzeled state.

“Are you kidding me?”

Happy nodded somberly, “Yes, I am.”

“Buddy, I am so not in the mood.”

He was going to say more but the sound of running made him pause to see who it was.

Rhodey.

“Sorry, I was late, man. Ross was on my ass, and I had to ditch him.”

He nodded and shook his hand, only half paying attention to what he was saying. “He still up about that?”

Rhodey rolled his eyes.

Suddenly, the loudest baby cry he'd ever heard filled the air.

Tony started then turned to his friends. “You hear that?”

“Yep.”

He hugged Rhodey fiercely. “You are a miracle worker.”

Rhodey laughed and hugged him back. “I didn't really do anything, but okay.”

“I feel so offended and neglected,” Happy said but Tony merrily ignored him, watching the door with baited breath.

Finally, it opened.

“Mr. Stark?” the nurse who came out said. “It's a healthy baby girl.”

Healthy.

Tony grinned. Yep, totally worth it.

* * *

  
“Tony, c'mon, let us hold her a bit.”

“Nope.”

“Tony.”

“No.”

"Tony, seriously."

"Not gonna happen."

“At least give her to Pepper, she's her mother, you know.”

“She had her for nine months, I can't have her for a few hours?”

Pepper laughed from the bed, but it was a bit raspy and tired. He lent over the bed to give her a kiss on her forehead.

“You really should go to sleep, you're exhausted.”

“Just a bit,” she murmured. “I want to see how this will go down.”

“It'll go down like this: my daughter staying in my arms. She's comfortable and asleep. You're not gonna wake her, are you?” he directed the last bit at Rhodey and Happy, the former who shot him an incredulous glare.

“Dude, you're unbelievable.”

“Oh let him have her, we'll see what he does when she wants be fed or a nappy change" Pepper said.

“Simple. I'll change and feed her.” And he had the internet and months of research on Baby 101 to back him up.

“Please film this for me,” Rhodey told Pepper.

Tony whispered to his daughter, “Darling, you better not do any funny business, okay. I'm your favourite parent. We have to present a united front.”

Morgan simply yawned, her perfect tiny fingers moving towards her mouth, and he felt his heart about to burst from emotion.

“She’s gonna cry and fuss and drive you crazy til you go bald and then you're gonna moan about your lost beauty,” Pepper said, but she had a smile on her face.

He held Morgan to his chest protectively, kissing her forehead, careful not to scratch her soft skin with his beard. “Don't listen to a word they say. I'll love you all the same.”

* * *

  
_II._

The baby monitor was beeping.

Tony cracked open one eye to glance at the alarm at his bedside, finding it was 3 AM in the morning. His head felt like it was filled with a ton of bricks and the rest of his body was no better.

Adding bits and pieces to the house, even with cut-edge technology, did apparently drain a person thoroughly.

The monitor beeped again.

Pepper sighed in her sleep besides him, turning on her side. He reached out to put it on silent mode, not wanting to wake her up. She'd caught a cold, was exhausted and cranky, and dealing with Morgan — whose teething period had her demanding her Mommy's attention at every turn — had left her even more so.

Quietly and with care, he slid from under the covers, cringing when his slippers squeaked too loudly on the floor.

Pepper, fortunately, did not wake.

He went over to Morgan's adjoining room, finding her with eyes wide open, sitting up and holding onto the rails.

“Hey baby girl,” he whispered, adjusting the blanket around her. “What are you up to at 3 AM, huh?”

Morgan gurgled noisily, arms moving in every which way.

He sighed.

“Someone has lots of energy.”

She blinked up at him but otherwise didn't seem like she was going to start wailing. A quiet mood, that certainly was rare for his daughter these days.

He smiled down at her, feeling the last of his sleep go. With them both awake, it was probably best to find something that occupied their time so that they wouldn't rouse Pepper.

Morgan reached up to him with her hands.

He mock rolled his eyes but his smile still remained. “C'mon missy.”

She immediately latched onto the neck of his shirt, a habit she had developed lately. At least she wasn't a fan of pulling at his hair, like she was with Pepper. Probably because there wasn't much to pull.

“You should feel very bad, keeping your old man up.”

He kissed her cheeks and sat on the rocking chair by the window.

Morgan lost interest in his shirt and tried to put an entire clenched fist in her mouth, drool gathering at the corners.

“Sweetheart,” he said pulling it away. “You shouldn't do that.”

She did not like that, fussing and reaching for her hand with her mouth then rocking back on her behind when that proved futile.

“How about we do a fun activity instead of chewing on our limbs… that can't be very tasty.”

Morgan replied in baby babbles. He took that for enthusiastic agreement.

He tapped at the control pad he'd installed at the side of the chair, and in a blink of an eye the digital screen he’d installed appeared in front of them.

Browsing through the files, he clicked on the nightime story folder that he made for this type of situation.

Happy had called him over-the-top, Tony just liked to think that he was prepared.

“What shall it be, Miss Morgan?”

Morgan let out another excited gurgle.

“Jack and the beanstalk it is.”

* * *

  
_III._

He heard the screech of the wooden stool a few seconds before Morgan’s head popped up besides him, and she put her elbows on the countertop, observing as he washed the dishes.

"Why are you still up? It's past your bedtime."

"Don't wanna sleep."

"Really?"

Morgan scrunched up her nose in reply.

He ruffled her hair with his wet hand, laughing when she squealed and batted it away.

She pouted at him in dismay, tiny hands reaching to try and get rid of the water.

He worked quietly for the next minute, while Morgan stood silently beside him.

“Who's that?”

Tony gave a cursory glance at where she was looking, freezing when he spotted what she was pointing at.

It wasn't the picture of his father. He honestly wished it was.

He probably would have had a good reply had it been.

No, it was the picture of him and Peter.

“That is….” he trailed off, tongue heavy.

Morgan peered up at him curiously.

He forced his throat to work, to swallow. “That’s Peter. Peter Parker.”

She stumbled on the letters even though she said them slowly, “Peta Parkah?”

“Peter Parker.”

“Peta Parkah.”

“Peter Parker.”

“Peta….Parkah.”

He rinsed the plate in his hands. “You know what? A plus for effort.”

She smiled at him toothily, then went back to looking at the picture intently.

He watched her watching it with weary eyes, fearful of the question he knew was coming.

A beat, then, “Where is he?”

The plate barely stayed clutched between his fingers.

"Away."

“Is he gonna visit?”

"I don't think he will."

"Why not?"

"Because he's away." He was stalling and he knew it, but if Morgan had an inkling to what he was doing, she didn't seem inclined to call him out on it.

"Can he come visit when he returns?"

"I hope so."

Morgan looked satisfied with the answer.

Tony heard Pepper coming up behind the both of them as she lifted Morgan, who screamed with delight, from her stool.

"What are you up to, Missy?" Pepper sternly asked her.

Morgan replied with all the innocence she could muster at three years old, "Helping daddy."

Pepper smiled that particular smile when she knew he was lying his ass off and was about to call him out on it, and arched a brow. "Oh really?"

She nodded. "He finished."

"Well, then," Pepper told her, adjusting her grip. "We should go to bed."

She whisked her away among rising protests and expertly done diplomatic answers and he let out a laugh as he heard Morgan arguing that all that sleep was going to make her lazy, the words coming out roughly from her three years old mouth.

It was a good solid five minutes before Pepper came down the stairs, approaching him with a certain look in her eyes. It wasn't full-fledged worry, just soft concern.

She took the plate still clutched in his hands, rubbing his arms and caressing his face.

“You okay?”

He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring look and poked her nose with his. “Always.”

Maybe he could stay up late and tinker for a while.

* * *

  
_IV._

Morgan was acting peculiarly today.

It was weird as heck.

She'd woken up without her familiar cheer, an unusual somber look in her eyes. It was sadness that came from deep profound horror and it made him want to throw up to think of what could have put such look on her face.

He'd tried to ask, but she refused to speak, shying from him whenever he got too close. Tony had cajoled her to rid her of that sadness, but she'd looked at him with such betrayal, he actually flinched back.

He’d seen that look so many times before, and it was all he could do not to start reciting the names in his head.

Pepper had seemed as helpless as him.

"I'm gonna go down to the garage, see if I can come up with a mind reading machine or something," he'd told his wife with a wry grin that he knew was more of a grimace than anything.

Then he locked himself in there.

That was hours ago, and he couldn't manage to distract himself from his daughter.

He couldn't distract himself from that look in her eyes.

Tony looked at the door; if there was a time to be brave...

God. He should really find it easier to go up there.

He took a deep breath.

The living room was quiet as he stepped in it, and he gave the kitchen a cursory glance and found it empty.

Yard it was, then.

When he found them, both Pepper and Morgan were sitting on the porch with their back to him, legs spread over the steps to the house. He walked a bit further to the left so he could have a clear view of their faces.

Morgan, having not noticed him, clutched her bear to her tightly, the one she'd proudly declared Snuffles, with fat tears on her cheeks.

"Do you wanna tell me what it is?" Pepper asked, fingers gently running through the brown locks of their daughter's hair.

Morgan shook her head furiously, then paused and nodded slowly.

Pepper kept running her hand over her head, waiting.

Sometimes, it hurt watching his daughter. Sometimes, she was so very much like him.

"T'was a nightmare," Morgan said, after a while.

"And?"

"Daddy was gone."

"Hmmm."

"And t'was just us left."

He shifted on his feet silently. Morgan had never had a nightmare like that before.

Monsters under the bed and evil witches were not uncommon but never something so….

Real.

With his luck though, there was probably a green skinned witch out there in the universe.

"I kept calling out for him" Morgan said, her voice quiet and scratchy from holding her tears. "He didn't come, and I called again and again and _again_ and again. I kept calling and he didn't come."

At that, her cries erupted in earnest, as she threw herself in Pepper's arms, barely pausing for breaths between her hiccups.

He hesitantly approached, encouraged by Pepper's nod and bent his knees to be at Morgan's height, rubbing her back.

He'd only rubbed for a second before she screamed Daddy and rushed in his embrace full force, shaking like a leaf.

"Sshh darling," he said, caressing her hair as she continued crying. "I'm right here."

Tony sighed.

"I'm right here."

* * *

  
_V._

He sat on the dining table, reviewing the reports of the Stark Internship Program. It had hit a nose dive after the snap, sure, but slowly the numbers were filling up again.

It was nice to see some good being done.

Morgan was next to him, content for the moment to finish her maths homework, though he caught her eyes peeking at the door every now and then.

When the bell ringed, she promptly threw the notebook to the ground and ran to the door.

Pepper laughed, from where she'd been reviewing Stark Industries reports.

Morgan stood on her toes to open for Rhoedy, who smiled as soon as he caught sight of her.

"Uncle Rhodey!"

Carefully, Rhodey picked her up, and Morgan used that to give him the biggest hug he could manage.

"How is my little rocket scientist?"

"Doing homework."

"That she threw on the floor," Tony told him, holding the notebook up and pursed his lips. "We don't disrespect the maths in this house."

Morgan nodded solemnly.

Rhodey exchanged a glance with Pepper, who exchanged a look back.

"Well, It's nice that there's such appreciation for numbers around here, most people really hate maths."

"Maths is important," Morgan said, looking a bit indignant. "You can't travel to space without maths, or build machines without maths-"

"Or count the number of broccoli left on your plate without maths," interjected Pepper.

"Broccoli is not important."

Rhodey adjusted her in his grip when he felt like she might be slipping; she was getting big. "Oh, yes it is."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Daddy says you didn't eat broccoli when you were littler."

"Don't worry, I did," Rhodey told her dryly, shooting Tony a look. "He's just jealous because I was the good kid when we were young."

Morgan looked at Tony for confirmation.

"Broccoli sucks," he simply said.

Morgan, apparently sensing that Rhodey was joining her mother's side of this argument, lifted her arms towards Tony so he'd take her.

Tony kissed her cheek as soon as she was in his arms.

"Want to build a metal car after lunch?" Morgan asked all of them.

* * *

  
The metal construction kit was open, several pieces on the floor between all of them. Pepper had the sheet with all the possible models that could be made, studying it intently while Morgan inspected each piece with a critical eye, putting it down after she was done, Rhodey had already decided what he was gonna do, and it was half way finished.

Tony was just winging it.

"Man, this is so cool. I haven't played with these since I was in what? Middle school?"

"Joys of having children," Tony told him. "Screwdriver please."

Morgan shook her head. "Need it."

Her tongue between her teeth, she concentrated as she maneuvered the tip in the nail head, gently rolling the nail until it slid into place, fixing the two pieces together.

"Here."

"Thank you, little miss."

"What are you doing?"

"Well, I was gonna make a war machine armour because your uncle is the coolest, but turns out we don't have enough pieces for that."

"We could go buy another one."

He turned to her with a raised eyebrow. "Could we?"

Her hand played with a strand of her hair, "there's a really big set in the store."

"Is there?" He asked, trying not to laugh.

"Special edition."

"Gotta say," Rhodey said. "She has more tact than you ever did."

"Excuse you, this-" Tony pointed to his five year old daughter. "-Is eighteen kilos of pure charm. No tact needed."

He raised his fist and pumped it against Morgan's who seemed delighted with the gesture.

"They're gonna take the world by storm," Pepper said absent-mindley, flipping the sheet over.

"Are you gonna make the ecavator?" Morgan asked, hurrying to her side.

"Excavator, and no something smaller maybe."

"It's not gonna be as cool as Me and Daddy's spaceship," Morgan warned her, cuddling into her mother, who began to tickle her in retaliation.

Rhodey looked like he was afraid to ask. "Spaceship?"

He patted his shoulder in mock sympathy, "gonna take the world by storm, Rhodey. Gonna take the world by storm."

* * *

  
_And then one more._

Standing in her father's old lab, she felt strangely out of place. Everything was in its proper position, the staff had reassured her and Peter had helped her do a final sweep and check of the systems, checking for anything remiss before she could upload her AI.

The room looked like it was untouched by time, and she loathed to disturb it.

But she couldn't stand there forever.

She took a deep breath, walking to the central computer and pressed the on switch.

“Hey, T.O.N.Y., you up?”

The machines around her flared to life and screens lighting up as the AI replied.

“For you, Sweetheart? Always.”

Morgan smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> I would really love it if you could leave a review to tell your thoughts, this is sorta of my first marvel fic so I want to know if I nailed it or not. 
> 
> Have a nice day, everyone.


End file.
